Dominos pizza and the power of physical availability

Domino Pizza's recession-busting results show the power of boosting "physical availability" for your brand: finding new ways to get your brand in front of people at moments when they're in the mood to buy. Total sales were up 9.8pc to £127m in the 13 weeks to September 25 according to recent reports.

Here are the multiple ways the take-away pizza chain has boosted physical availability.

1. New stores: the most obvious way Dominos are growing is new physical stores, with 37 new stores opened in the UK so far this year, according to MotleyFool.com

2. New physical routes to consumer: more interesting is Dominos channel innovation, which is moving forward on several fronts. They have opened their first motorway service station outlet. And the company is about to open its first store in a Tesco, with a ‘ready to go’ option allowing customers to pick up a pizza straight after doing their shopping.

3. Online ordering: most impressive is Dominos increasing share of business done via online ordering. They were one of the first companies to open up this channel, starting back in 1999. Online sales are now reported to make up a whopping 47% of sales, up from 40% a year ago. Last Saturday during a big TV night in the UK (X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing!) the company did £1 million in online orders (compared to £100,000 a year back in 1999)

The online figures have been boosted by the recent launch of a new iPad application, which already makes up 13% of e-commerce sales.

4. Moon-based outlets: most adventurous is the plans for a Dominos on the moon, as reported here ;-)

In conclusion, a great example of the power of physical availability to drive growth. It aint as sexy as social media. But its much better for your bottom line.

This is a very good example of how brand positioning can play directly into marketing efforts and vice versa. It is extremely important, then, that both the brand licensing and marketing teams be on the same page.